Zardari not to surrender COAS selection powers

[Naveed Yaseen]

By Rauf Klasra
ISLAMABAD: Regardless of the simmering political turmoil, President Asif Ali Zardari is said to be in no mood to surrender certain powers particularly that of appointing the next chief of Army staff on or before November 2010, sources claimed. It was also claimed that while the president may ‘cede’ to a few earlier demands of Mian Nawaz Sharif in the coming days, this abdication was definitely not on the cards, come what may.

The sources claimed that a determined Mr Zardari, who had already got a prime minister, chairman Senate and speaker National Assembly of his own choices with only 120 seats of his party in the National Assembly, wanted to first bring in his own choice replacement to the incumbent COAS and may only give up these powers after accomplishing this task.

The sources said the secret meetings between Shahbaz Sharif, Ch Nisar Ali Khan and the COAS in recent days had already raised many eyebrows, as no one knew what was cooking up yet again between the Sharif brothers and their old uniformed friends.

One top source claimed that appointment of chief of army staff was the only clause available with President Zardari which was a major hurdle in the way of bringing about the required changes in the 17th Amendment which were agreed between Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto in 2006 as a part of Charter of Democracy (CoD).

The sources said Asif Zardari might offer Nawaz Sharif during his Monday meeting to remove the condition of third time prime minister from the 17th Amendment to help the twice elected prime minister grab the same post in future but all those who were expecting the president to transfer these powers to the prime minister might get disappointed. The sources said Zardari had even lost his credibility in the political circles by not bringing about changes in the 17th Amendment simply to retain the powers to appoint a chief of Army staff of his choice.

In that background the sources said President Zardari, now infamously known as a new lethal political strategist in the troubled politics of the country, was said to be not convinced to lose the God sent chance of appointing a new army chief within the next ten months as from November 2009, the last year of General Kayani would get underway.

Background interviews with some key sources revealed that President Zardari had been waiting for the completion of the term of General Kayani so he could bring a new general of his choice and diminish the frequent threats to his power.

Musharraf had brought back the power of appointing services chiefs to the president’s office but according to sources, now the establishment was strongly in favour of shifting of these powers from the president to Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani.

The sources said, unlike Nawaz, this time, the establishment forces were feeling more comfortable with a non-ambitious Yusuf Raza Gilani, who was being seen as a cool handler of the military matters unlike Nawaz and most importantly, he had emerged as a politician who would not like to indulge in any adventure with the powerful military establishment. The sources said some elements within the army establishment were of the view that the military might be more comfortable with Gilani having these powers particularly when the last year of General Kayani would start from next month.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=25182